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Category Archives: Notts pubs

Well there are plenty of newcomers to the brewing scene in Nottingham, but rather than get swept up in all that let’s take a look at one that’s been around for a bit, brewing from the Fox & Crown in Basford the Alcazar Brewery.

Alcazar started brewing in 1999, whilst that’s still relatively recent they’ve been brewing since well before the recent real ale resurgence, though you would be forgiven for not knowing who they are as I have only ever seen their beers on sale at the Nottingham Beer festival or the Fox and Crown itself, but then they are a small brewery.

This lack of exposure doesn’t mean they do ale not worthy of it, far from it, they have a good stable of beer with Sherrifs Gold and Black Fox both excellent session choices though I will admit to not having tried the whole range due to availability! It would be nice to see them spread out a bit more, but the Nottingham real ale scene is becoming a tremendously fierce battle ground, it seems to survive you need to get some brews with the popular US and NZ hop imports, let’s hope they do.

They show sky sports, which isn't for everyone, but most ale pubs nowadays choose not to.

The Fox and Crown is a great traditional pub in easy walking distance of the Basford tram stop, and it would be rude to not goto the also excellent Horse and Groom whilst you’re in the area!

As Radfordlad points out in the comments below, CAMRA discount is 25p off a pint, and they do thai food though I have yet to try it.

33 Church Street, Old Basford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG6 0GA

*Note Alcazar beers are available in bottles, I have tried a few and whilst being passable as with most bottled beer they’re nowhere near as good as on draft.

The Goosebury Bush has a lot of work to do, and seems to be doing it so far, the other Wetherspoons’ in Nottingham city center are in an embarrasingly ropey state and are long overdue a complete overhaul, the recent opening of the TBI only further highlighted just how bad its city center counterparts are. Both the Roebuck Inn and the Joseph Else in my first hand experience have been guilty of having a pint returned to be tried by the barman, him commenting on how it ‘tastes of vinegar’ offering a replacement pint, and then leaving the other ‘bad’ one for sale until assumedly it runs out. No wonder many people are put off drinking real ale.

The pub has some interesting features including artwork, stained glass, and some odd woodworked tables, that made balancing a pint tricky!

Previous owners Varsity ended up selling to Wetherspoons, it’s worth pointing out at this point that the Goosebury Bush, or what once was Varsity is about 2 minutes if that from Nottingham Trent University; I would have thought it would be easy to hoover student money up from a pub placed here, or maybe it was and they wanted to cash in, who knows? and thinking about it, who cares? So what’s it like…

(if you’re wondering how to find it, follow the tram tracks out of Nottingham, turn right up the hill when you see a cemetary)

As you would expect from a brand new pub it’s all very tidy, how long this is set to last for remains to be seen, I just hope it doesn’t fall foul of student abuse! There are many very comfy leather sofas and soft chairs and plenty of dinner tables dotted around, including some in the unique overlooking point of the pub, alas it only overlooks a carpark, oh well.

One half of the ale selection, note that this is opening day and running off its 'starter pack'

This picture is as blury as this side of the bars ale is generic

10 ale pumps sets the tone and whilst the selection is currently somewhat generic this is more down to the ‘starter pack’ new ‘spoons pubs get given, speaking to the barman revealed that only 2 are ‘must stocks’ where as the other 8 are open to guests from Nottingham and further afar, given time this could be a bit of a gem, and it hopefully increases pressure on the other city center Wetherspoons dossholes.

Is it worth a visit? yes, even more so when the beer selection gets into gear, we will revisit in a couple of weeks and see what’s what, until then the Dr says drink some beer.

The Organ Grinder opens this Friday at 4pm, with free pork pies assumedly while they last!

There’s been a lot of talk, and given our web stats a lot of interest in Blue Monkeys new flagship boozer The Organ Grinder; head honcho John Hickling himself was kind enough to let us have a nosey round and answer a few questions this afternoon.

8 pumps, beers facing away on the corner right are the regular Blue Monkey beers BG Sips and Guerilla

4 Blue Monkey beers will be available, 2 rotating and 2 regulars. The other 4 being proper guests, not just sourced from around Nottingham. John himself was enthusiastic about the selection, with beers and lagers (more about that in a moment) coming from all over the place backed up by a landlord with over 30 years experience, 2 of which running the award winning Crown at Beeston, it’s not hard to see why!

Money is being talked about more than ever, if you want a cheap pint Batemans XB is always on at £2.20 a pint, it’s a steady drink, and that’s a good price for the budget conscious, Blue Monkey beers vary in price but the excellent session beer Original will be £2.50 a pint, again a reasonable price, and if you can’t get a good pint of it here I don’t know where you will.

Being a freehouse allows you to do what you wish with your drinks, and it’s nice to see such a fine selection of lagers, ciders, and fruit wines, these are often overlooked by other pubs. The saying goes you can’t please everyone all of the time, but they’re giving it a go! They’re even going to be doing tea and coffee…

Yes that burner works, and will be on "as soon as it's cold enough"

Work was still ongoing during our visit, but it looks set to be easily one of the best pubs in Nottingham and is likely to be the jewel in the crown of a canning circus pub crawl that must be looking more and more tempting than ever!

I like local beer and support the LocAle scheme but variety is a good thing, so it’s nice to see a traditional pub that serves local ales but isn’t shy to reach out to other parts of the country. The Horse and Groom at Basford is one of these quality pubs offering a good mix with excellent variety and is a good place to visit if you fancy a proper ‘guest’ beer.

Occasionally further ale is offered direct from the cellar.

With open fires and multiple quirky rooms it’s always a pleasure to visit, especially if they have a festival on as they tend to open up the large function room at the rear.

As well as bold beer choices from around the country it’s one of few pubs to offer a permanent mild pump, which is very nice to see as it caters for all drinkers.

Just some of the seating area, there's plenty more.

Being only a very short tram journey from the city center it’s a pub anyone who likes their ale should be trying, or indeed as we did you can even combine it with other pubs to create a tram pub crawl, as long as you drink responsibly of course.

You can find out more about this great pub and its interesting history (based next to the old Shipstones brewery) by visiting the official website,http://www.horseandgroombasford.com/

A quick note of thanks firstly, when we first started nottsbrew we didn’t expect much in the way of interest and where surprised in March when we nearly hit 1,000 visitors. So many thanks to you all in May, we just fell short of 2,500 visitors, not bad for a rubbish site run by two idiots.

So the Hog’s Head then, it’s in this months Nottingham Drinker magazine as now serving proper ale with no less than 5 pumps so I thought it was worth checking out.

Whilst the interior of the Hog’s Head is (at the time of writing) in need of a lick of paint it still retains its large open feel with two entrances, plenty of seating and a pool table.

Onto the ale, despite 2 being off (it was in fairness a Tuesday) the 3 available where superb, the Salopian brewery again making me wonder why more pubs don’t stock it with its superb Oracle at 4%

CAMRA members get a 10% discount at all times, meaning Tim Taylors Landlord was £2.38, and the other guests £2.25, given the showing it’s hard not to recommend checking this out. With great prices and great ale it’s hard to see the Hog’s Head going far wrong.

Today marks the re-opening of the ‘World Famous Trent Bridge Inn‘ after its acquisition by Wetherspoons, clearly not messing around they chucked well over £1,000,000 at it giving the place a complete refurbishment. Whilst a little dark in places it’s full of artwork and cricket memorabilia, with the occasional Pies and Forest shot thrown in for good measure; given the size of this thing this is clearly the target audience as this is the largest Wetherspoons I have ever set foot in, if not the biggest pub, in places it’s massive, one of the rooms is like an assembly hall!

The decor is dark, and changes throughout.

The top floor bar.

Last year prior to take over this famous building was a shambles and to be quite honest had been for quite some years, the beer ‘selection’ was practically none existent, the decor was tired and every time England had a cricket match next door the place was nothing but an embarrassment to Nottingham. Wetherspoons love them or hate them have swooped in and done a great job in modernising and making good use of the space, hopefully this will stand the test of time.

But enough about the decor, this isn’t Homos Homes under the Hammer, what’s the beer like? and this is where it gets a bit interesting, it depends what bar you go to, the TBI has a split bar as you walk in, another bar round the back, a bar on the left of the upper floor and a bar on the right of the upper floor, so that’s five bars, yes, the TBI now has FIVE bars.

The downstairs 'hall' bar

The top floor bar.

The beer selection changes with each bar, I only managed to get shots of 2 of the less impressive bars as the downstairs areas where packed, the main ale selection is as you walk in on the side bar. Unfortunately however even with the ‘full selection’ available at the side bar it’s quite disappointing. The ‘guest’ beers are the Wetherspoons generic uninspired choices such as Batemans XXB and Caledonian Deuchars, coupled with the normal snore festival of Abbot, Speckled Hen and the rest of the Greene King crew there was actually only 2 real beers that caught my eye, and one had just gone! Perhaps this will change, it is opening week. The beer selection is much better now the pub has had time to get into its stride, the usual Abbot, Speckled Hen etc generic beers of course adorn the bar, but 3/4 proper guests are now in action.

Nottingham Brewery thankfully have brewed a special bitter aptly named Trent Bridge Ale, now after 5 pints I can confirm confidently that this is a fine beer and I hope to see it on here all the time will continue to be brewed for the pub. Perhaps what I didn’t expect was the pricing, guest ales where £2.45 which is quite a bit more than the prices some will be used to from Wetherspoons, competing local landlords will no doubt be happy to hear this as all their business won’t be scalped from them!

Correct as of May 2011. Pricier than most Wetherspoons pubs.

Pay and display? yep, Euro Carparks seem to own the (tiny) carpark at the side of the TBI, and they charge £1 an hour, the longest ticket you can buy is 3 hours.

Note sly, 'have you paid and displayed' sign on the left!

So a half decent boozer then, but with the mediocre selection of ale I won’t be in any rush to get back, and those of you thinking you can sneak a view of the cricket unfortunately below is the best you can get, still you can see the scoreboard eh?

If you haven’t read the article below this about Blue Monkeys new Canning Circus powerhouse opening in June, then do so, because Canning Circus looks like it could be turning into quite the force!

You will be forgiven for mistaking The Ropewalk as still being under its previous guise of a 'scream pub' other than the repainting of the garish yellow walls not a great deal else has changed exterior wise.

A great selection, this picture was taken during the mild trail hence 2 milds.

Amidst Nottinghams sea of inflated beer prices (£3+ a pint is becoming far too common, and frankly ridiculous) it’s nice to see a pub offering geniunely good deals on quality ales, and assuming it’s some kind of dosshole full of students would be quite far off the mark, it’s actually light and very spacious with a good mix of clientele.

Nice and open, plenty of seating.

Proper pint glasses.

So here’s the deals, and what makes this probably the most competetive in Nottingham, as the deal states above between 5pm till 9pm weeknights all beers are £1 off, when we went in this makes them between £1.75 to £2.10 a pint.

It’s also worth noting when the above deals not on, it’s 50p off for CAMRA (biggest in Nottingham) averaging the price of a pint at around £2.50, reasonable.

Over 100 beers? erm no actually, not really, and if there ever where it would require a myriad of *† and other cautionary disclaimer notes after the number 100… It’s possible that 100 beers where on sort of, but not at once and some pubs where paying lip service compared to others. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still worth going as they have some great beers on, but the claims of 100 beers whilst true, in a nutshell it’s not ‘all at once’.

We started at the Peacock Inn, I like this pub and we are due to do a review but I was surprised to see no beer barrels, just the bar full up to its normal quota, that was ‘it’ thankfully Bath Ales – Summer Hare was superb and pulled them out from embarrasment, they had about 7 beers on including regulars, this was not the start hoped for.

Moving onto the Golden Fleece we where greeted with this board,

That’s better I thought, but the reality was unfortunately again not all beers being available, inside was a smaller sized menu with ticks showing which where currently on, about a third where available to buy at the time. Thornbridge Jaipur was a great pint but costly at £3.20, but hey at least thats 5p cheaper than in the center of London, because Mansfield Road and the center of London are clearly in a similar business position…

Ok so fair enough moving on to the Nags Head, they do a quality beer festival out in the great patio area they have, the board this time didn’t promise so much but at least all beers where on and available, so fair play to the Nags Head.

Not promising a massive selection, but fair play for having it all on the bar to buy.

Next off to the Lincolnshire Poacher, which roundly trounced the previous pubs with its usual great bar selection, and just under 20 on gravity available.

£2.80 for all festival pints was again reasonable

Many will think after my previous glowing reports of the Lincolnshire Poacher that I have some kind of agenda, well I don’t! I think normally it’s over priced, but tonight again it showed that it was the best of the bunch!

We went at this point to next door, it seems Fade and the hard to find cafe just plain pulled out, we went there to be told abruptly, and I quote,

we’re not stamping cards

They had 2 beers on, and that was your lot.

This was a festival/crawl that promised a huge amount and didn’t quite live up to expectation, claims of 100+ beers is deceptive given the showing we saw. We didn’t try the Rose of England or Forest Tavern but given the experience from all the other pubs, I think a mixed reaction is the best we can give it, here’s hoping that if this event is back on in 2012 some of the pubs that gave a poor showing pull their weight, as they put the brakes on what could have been a fantastic night out.

Filling in a trail collectors card gets you a free beer, if you’re out shopping on the Saturday morning and see some people covered in tears and vomit outside the Sony Centre, don’t feel sad, they probably had a bit too much to drink the night before and just rolled their way back down the hill. The only question remaining is, will you work your way up, or down?

ps, no, this isn’t an April Fool.

Ah, a list has been released, though it isn’t in any real order, nor does it specify what will be where!

What a diverse area I thought, as I caught the bus from Upper Parliament street outside the ‘private triple x’ shop, and progressed my way from the city centre into Radford, destination, The Plough Inn – home of the Nottingham Brewery.

It looks like a normal carpark, because it is. Behind this though is the brewery.

The Plough is a bit of an odd one to get to from the city centre, it requires a 10 minute or so bus ride and then a short walk that you really need to look into on google maps before setting off, with that said it is easy enough to find once you have a general idea of where you’re going* you would be forgiven for being a bit touristy in trying to find it, especially as other than the group I was with I didn’t hear anyone else talking English.

*we took the number 28 bus on the pink line and got off when we saw the white horse cafe (which looks like a pub) then walked up St Peters’ Street

The Plough, untouched by time.

After a stroll through modern Britain it was nice to see the Plough is an old fashioned honest boozer, much like their rivals Castle Rock the Nottingham Brewerys Plough is very much of a traditional decor, or as some would pen them ‘spit and sawdust’ the interior is what it is and after seeing the picture of one of the lounges below, you will know if it’s for you or not.

One of the lounges.

I set out to the Plough for one reason if I’m honest, to try one of my favourite all time beers again Nottingham – Supreme, I hadn’t seen it in what seemed like forever, so where else better to go and get some? Well, as it turns out they canned brewing Supreme 2 years ago, this news knocked me back like a pint glass to the face (not that I have exprienced that, but it was unpleasant news) this was not the start I was hoping for.

Add 4p due to todays budget.

The Nottingham Brewery do some great beer, we’re both huge fans of Rock Bitter and E.P.A, so despite the Supreme dissapointment I made my way through their card. I always get my hopes up when going to a brewtap expecting the beer to be the literal best example I have ever had, however it simply wasn’t the case; now don’t get me wrong they where good pints so perhaps I got my hopes up too high, another thing to keep in mind is I have had Nottingham beer in countless pubs round Nottingham, consuming a huge number of pints, versus the 5 on this one evening!

Which really brings me to this, despite being a very nice pub it’s hard to recommend this colourful trip out when Nottingham beers are so freely available in the city centre.